A buzzer sounded, and the Airport International’s security office door allowed me inside. Two officers behind a counter heard me explain that I had cared for a guest. One of the officers had called earlier.
The International has over 1,200 rooms. In my experience, a hotel generates about one request for a doctor per month for every hundred rooms. My record, in case you’re wondering, is 208 calls in 1995 from the old Century Plaza which had 1076 rooms.
I received nine calls from the International during 2012 and seven so far in 2013. When I asked the security officer why the hotel called so infrequently he gave the usual wrong answer (“no one’s been sick”). When I asked who they called besides me, he peered down at his desk where, under a sheet of glass lay business cards advertising taxis, ambulance services, hospitals, clinics, pharmacies, et al. I saw my card and none from three rival hotel doctors who prefer Beverly Hills to the beach cities where luxury hotels concentrate. They occasionally drive the extra ten miles to the airport, but I doubt they’re responsible for my shortfall.
My eyes fell on a card from a national housecall service. Several exist; all boast that they can send a doctor at a moment’s notice. This is not easy, so all learn about me. I made half a dozen visits for this agency but stopped because guests blamed me for the bill.
“Do you know how much these people charge?” I asked. “Six hundred dollars!” They expressed polite dismay. Guests rarely complain about a doctor’s fee, so the officers didn’t care.
That’s the problem. Luxury hotels make sure a doctor is available, but many managers at the mid-level give it a low priority, so employees make their own choice when a guest asks for help except when they deny the existence of a hotel doctor.
Now and then, mysteriously, the light dawns, and a hotel begins to call regularly. Decades may pass before this happens, and I’m still waiting for the International.
